S.54 would impose a 16 percent excise tax on retail sales. Sales of marijuana for resale would be exempt. Also, municipalities could enact a two percent “local option” tax on retail sales. There would be no other sales tax.

The House introduced a retail marijuana bill on Friday while a similar Senate bill was being prepped for a committee vote. Neither bill would set taxes high enough to cover costs expected by the Marijuana Commission.

Establishing a retail market for marijuana will lead to increased marketing, which will have an effect on Vermont youth consumption, Vermont Marijuana Commission Vice Chair Jake Perkinson said Tuesday.

Pot, psychosis, and violence are connected. Heavy pot users are 3-4 times more likely to develop psychosis. People with psychosis are far more prone to violence when they consume drugs — and their favorite drug is marijuana.

Just paying the state’s estimated $20 million operational costs of “tax and regulate” legal marijuana would require sales and excise taxes of 27 percent, almost three times the 10 percent tax rate in Maine.

Thirty-one candidates and several political organizations received political contributions from the Marijuana Policy Project, a pro-legalization organization based in Washington, D.C., during the 2016 general election.